Daynight Racer (Completed)

Chapter 24

A yawn escaped through Lyst's lips, despite her best efforts at suppressing it. It was still midday, the blazing sun shone relentlessly on anyone unfortunate enough to be under it. Although there's still half a day before her, she was already physically and mentally drained.

"Come on, Lyst." Ashley nudged her shoulder. "Don't come shutting down on me now, you have an entire car ride to Silverstone ahead of you."

Lyst groaned, blowing away a few strands of auburn hair that landed on her face as she looked at Ashley in the eye. "You drive then. I'll just take a nap in the passenger seat," she slurred. "The team really pushed me over the limit with the simulator... And don't get me started on the team meetings. My social battery is completely dead."

"Fine," scoffed Ashley. She pulled open the drawer and grabbed Obsidian's keys. Using it to open Obsidian's boot, she hauled all of the luggage onto the car, silently grumbling about how Lyst made her do the job alone.

With a tug on the handle, she slammed the boot shut. A satisfying thud indicated that the boot still closed despite all the things stuffed inside, much to her delight. She dusted her hands off, and headed back into the house to deal with her sleepy best friend.

"Here, have an energy drink." She held out a can of red bull. "You need it, sleepyhead."

Lyst's eyelids fluttered open, but her eyes were distant. Staring blankly at the drink in front of her, she pushed it away. "I had milk today. Red bull and milk don't mix."

"Okay, okay." Ashley let out a sigh. "Then what do you want, then?"

"Sleep."

"Come on, Lyst. You could at least carry yourself into the car."

"Fine."

Using all of her remaining strength, Lyst pushed herself out of the sofa onto a standing position. Her feet were wobbly and her head wasn't clear yet. In fact, it wasn't clear at all. Leaning on a table, she pressed two fingers on her temples, massaging it. Only when she felt a little less lightheaded, did she hobble over to Obsidian.

Seeing the newly repaired part of her car, it made her recall about the night she crashed into Nick. It had only been what, three weeks ago? But it felt like an eternity. Since then, her days simply consisted of work, eating, more work, and a little bit of rest. All of her plans to visit the street racing community had gone down the drain as a result.

Who could she blame though? The team wanted to haul as many points as possible during the season finale. And as a racing driver, it was her job to achieve that goal for them.

But maybe, after the race, I could finally have the freedom to return to street racing...

Lyst's trail of thoughts were cut off by the sound of the door closing and being locked. She turned to the direction of the door, to see Ashley giving the front door a final pull to make sure it's secure.

Noticing Lyst standing by the car instead of being in it, Ashley gave her friend a curious look. "I'm surprised you're not happily snoring away in the passenger seat already," she remarked.

"Well, seeing my car gave me an adrenaline boost. How about that?"

Ashley rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. "You're ridiculous." Sauntering over to the driver side door, she pulled it open, before beckoning Lyst to join her in the car.

"It's been forever since I drove this car," Ashley muttered to herself as she started the engine. The summer was slowly transitioning into autumn, and the temperature reflected that. The cooler ambient temperature meant a colder start, which in turn made the engine roar louder than it would've been.